From Chief to Ball

"Then how could it be wrong?"

"Within this assumption, the calculated result is not the same as the assumption, which proves that the assumption itself is wrong."

"Yes. Then, as far as the corner of the universe that Mr. Xuan'an knows now, the earth must revolve around the stars. Whether it is true or not, this is an assumption. But what we know is that the earth revolves around the sun Therefore, before discussing astronomy, one must accept this assumption and choose one of the two, otherwise everything after that will be difficult to understand and unexplainable.”

After Xu Guangqi reacted a little, he knew the seriousness of the problem.There is no right or wrong in the assumption itself, but when the assumption does not match the facts, it proves that the assumption itself is wrong.

Now he can't judge which hypothesis is correct, but he knows one thing: the group of people in front of him deduced the coming of the comet by relying on their hypothetical universe, while the people of the other hypothesis did not.

This is not a question of whether he has the heart or not. Xu Guangqi is very clear that Matteo Ricci wanted to be appreciated by His Majesty the Emperor. When translating the original geometry, he thought of translating astronomy and calendar books first.

If there is an opportunity to calculate the coming of a comet, Matteo Ricci will never miss it, but if he misses it, it proves that he has no ability to predict, and it also proves that the hypothesis of the geocentric theory he taught is wrong, at least in the case of comets. In fact, it is not as good as the heliocentric hypothesis.

The young man on the opposite side was holding some letters from Quanzhou prefect Jiang Zhili, which clearly stated the origin of the comet incident, and also produced the records in the historical records of the Yuan and Song Dynasties, which were basically correct. Even if you want to continue to turn forward, you can turn to Warring States Policy...

There is no way, this is a great group of people who have believed in history since the rebellion of the people in the Republic of China. It is not difficult to read it carefully.

And once you accept the statement about astronomy, you must accept the supporting worldview and the concept that the universe cannot exist alone, which is one.

Xu Guangqi has experienced two major worldview transitions in his life.

There was once when he joined the Catholic Church. From the 21st year of Wanli to the 31st year of Wanli, it took him a full ten years to accept the Catholic worldview.

But now, he is facing a second choice, and this time it will only be more intense than the previous one, he can feel it.

A voice in his head kept telling him that this is heresy and should not be believed.Another voice is enlightening him, this is science, listen to it...

The two ideas struggled in the mind for a long time, and finally Xu Guangqi sighed: "Since it is a hypothesis, let's talk about your hypothesis."

The young man also smiled and said, "Yes, it's just a hypothetical, Mr. Xuan'an might as well listen."

After speaking, he asked Xu Guangqi for a pen and paper, skillfully drew the orbit of the earth around the sun, marked the equator and ecliptic, and gave a brief explanation.He has seen this picture a lot in Mincheng. The school in Nan’an has already taught these things in the cramming-style education. As long as the children know that they don’t need to be poor, but those who are interested say otherwise, they need mathematics to prove it. This is another way. one thing.Not every child who knows that the earth is a ball can deduce universal gravitation by himself, but it does not prevent the children from knowing, questioning and opposing that is what a person in a line of work should do.

"Mr. Xuan'an, before I talk about this, let me talk about our hypothetical universe. When the heaven and the earth first opened, the way of the heaven and the earth already existed. I don't know why the heaven and the earth opened, and I don't need to know who opened the heaven and the earth, because at the beginning of the heaven and the earth At the moment of opening, the person who created the world or the gods has no meaning, the only thing that exists is the way of the world set at that moment."

Seeing that Xu Guangqi wanted to object, the young man said again: "This is a hypothetical. Mr. Xuan'an, there is no need to be anxious. Let me first ask if you use this hypothetical theory, what does Mr. Xuan'an think the way of heaven and earth is? You can just give an example."

Without even thinking about it, Xu Guangqi replied casually: "If this is the case, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, which is the way of heaven and earth."

The young man shook his head and said, "Mr. Xuan'an is wrong. The sun's rising in the east and setting in the west is just a manifestation of the way of heaven and earth, not the way of heaven and earth itself. The so-called rising in the east and setting in the west is just because the earth rotates from west to east. It’s just that at the moment when the heaven and the earth first opened, the earth happened to rotate from west to east. If the earth rotated from east to west at that moment, it would naturally rise in the west and set in the east. Take the reason and so in "Arithmetic and Geometry" In other words, the rising of the east and the setting of the west are just the reason, not the reason. If we take the rising of the east and the setting of the west as the reason, we get the shadow in the west in the morning and the shadow in the east in the evening. Similarly, because the earth turns from west to east, the sun appears to us It's going up and down, but it's actually not moving at all."

The young man said again: "That is to say, rising in the east and setting in the west is not the Tao itself, because the rising in the east and setting in the west, the morning shadow is in the west and the evening shadow is in the east... This is the whole sentence from the beginning to the end in the east. It is the same way. Turning from west to east itself is not the way, but the complete sentence that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west because it turns from west to east is the way.”

Xu Guangqi was still in a daze, and the young man hit the iron while it was hot: "Does Mr. Xuan'an believe that the earth is round?"

Interrupted by such an interruption, he also nodded and said, "Of course I do."

"Then Mr. Xuan'an, have you ever thought about why people on the other side of the earth can't fall?"

"This……"

"Because the earth is like a magnet, but this magnet attracts not only iron, but all things. Plants, trees, bamboos, stones, copper and iron, people and animals are all attracted. Therefore, people are always facing the center of the earth, so it is impossible to If it falls, even if it falls, it will fall towards the center of the ball. This is the way of heaven and earth together. If we only say that a stone is thrown into the air and falls, it is only a manifestation of the way of heaven and earth rather than the way of heaven and earth itself. We calculate Knowing the speed of falling can make you more prepared for the bombardment of the cannon, this is the benefit of knowing the way of heaven and earth."

Xu Guangqi thought about this sentence carefully, closed his eyes and thought for a while, and suddenly said: "Yes, it is not downward but toward the center of the ball. Our downward is downward, and if the downward on the other side of the earth is our upward." ……No wonder!"

With the help of cannon and astronomy that Xu Guangqi is interested in, a breakthrough was opened, and the following problems were much simpler.

For half a month, he sat and talked about Taoism, instilling many destructive things into Xu Guangqi's mind, and Xu Guangqi's own concept of "Tao" was not difficult for Xu Guangqi to accept, even easier to accept.

And in this way, the biggest worldview decision we have to face is: Does the sky or God make sense?If it no longer affects the world after the creation of the world, then even the meaning of existence still exists?Does it matter whether something meaningless exists or not?

If Tao, Heaven and God coincide, then Tao is knowable and measurable, which proves that God and Heaven are knowable, but how can Heaven and God be knowable?

When a thing can’t be seen, touched, smelled, felt, or affect people’s life, it’s the same with it, it’s the same without it, it’s the same if you worship it, it’s the same if you don’t worship it, you believe it, you don’t believe it So does it.

So even if it exists, what is the difference between existence and non-existence?

This is not Chen Jian's idea, but it is the most acceptable idea for people at this time.

This does not need to deny the existence of heaven or God itself, but it needs to deny the meaning of their existence.

Although still idealistic, but at this time it is a stormy sea that shakes the earth and the sky.

Xu Guangqi didn't want to accept it, but he even asked a few questions, and the other party answered them one by one, or described some scenes in the rather sensational exhibition in the Capital Academy, which didn't sound like a fake, because this person I said that if Xu Guangqi is interested, he can copy it at any time in the future.

Particle theory, fertilizer science, frictional electrification, electrolysis of water, vacuum mercury column, prism splitting light, particles are all things, and matter is immortal is just a chemical workshop that is recombined under the banner...

These mysterious-sounding things were told one by one to Xu Guangqi, who was like listening to the Classic of Mountains and Seas again, but told Xu Guangqi over and over again that because the way of heaven and earth will not change, so no matter when and where, it is based on the way of heaven and earth. Everything can be repeated, and everything that is said can be repeated without fear of doubt.

When asked about some mystical truths, the young man said that he had learned very little, but he was a middle-aged man and he was not familiar with the language, so he had to do it.

After arguing and inquiring one day, the young man took out another book called "Interesting Pea Planting" and handed it to Xu Guangqi, saying: "This book existed hundreds of years ago, and all agronomy students in the school should read it." Studying, I saw that Mr. Xuan’an is doing his own farming. It’s very interesting to try it. It’s just that it will take two years to do everything written in the book from planting to harvesting. What you see in front of you will prove the truth. Two years later, we can talk about the way of heaven and earth..."

After taking the book, I flipped through a few pages at random, and it was full of pictures and texts, and it was very detailed.

He didn't refuse, but he was no longer curious, because the answer was given in the book, and he already believed that the answer in the book must be correct...

It was night, Xu Guangqi had a splitting headache and couldn't sleep.

My head is full of what I have heard these days. When I close my eyes, I see those strange books and rare things sent.

The words of saints, the righteousness of Jesus, the way of heaven and earth, the words of Buddha... all kinds of voices kept rolling in his head, and he sat up suddenly in the middle of the night, screaming several times, his heart beat like a drum and sweated like pulp...

Chapter 64 Prophecy

Xu Guangqi's illness has lasted for more than a month, but this illness has neither fever nor fever, nor the pain of diarrhea and edema, so it is difficult to describe it except for himself.

During this month, those guests communicated with Xu Guangqi several times, and left some books and about 600 taels of silver, saying that they asked Xu Guangqi to find some talented young people to go to Fujian.

It is Confucianism as the body, science as the application, benefiting Wang Hua, Anbang eliminates disadvantages, etc. Xu Guangqi also felt quite reasonable when he heard it, so he agreed to them one by one.

Afterwards, these guests asked Xu Guangqi to write some recommendation letters. These people wanted to travel around.Xu Guangqi did not agree at first, but later these people talked about oil lamps and other things, saying that they heard that a place called Sichuan in Fujian also used this method to drill wells, so they wanted to see and see, and complement each other, so Xu Guangqi knew about these lamp oils. It came from underground.

Now that I knew it came from underground, I couldn't help but think of the word "petroleum" written by Shen Kuo, a man of Song Dynasty, and asked about some refining methods.

These few guests said that this thing can be used for lighting, as bright as a candle without cutting the candle, and it can be hung in front of the horse as a lantern, the price is cheaper than Mindoli and it is harmless.

Since the land and rocks of Kyushu converge, presumably China also has oil, so I hope to learn technology so that I can mine here in the future.

Xu Guangqi knows that this is extremely difficult, but he doesn't want to give up, at least he is prepared.

In addition, these guests also talked about "chemistry", "pigment", "ore" and other things, and said that they had seen a lot of blue and white porcelain when they were in the Netherlands the year before last, which was praised as the purest thing that only gods and angels can use. Wait, so I want to visit Jingdezhen.

Xu Guangqi had a lot of friends and was a member of the official family. He had acquaintances in Sichuan, Jiangxi and other places, so he wrote several letters.

These people either went to Zigong in Sichuan or Jingde in Jiangxi.

On the one hand, he went to learn some techniques here, and on the other hand, Chen Jian also took this opportunity to let some people in the party experience the upcoming Jingdezhen civil uprising.